Happy New Year! The blog has been a bit quiet of late, I wasn’t planning on taking time away from the blog over Christmas but, well, it just sort of happened. Life is pretty hectic with an almost four year old so when nursery is closed for the holidays, I find I’m pretty exhausted by the time bedtime rolls around.
The weekend before Christmas, we spent a couple of nights in Blackpool. I’ve never stayed overnight in Blackpool before, we usually just pop in for the illuminations and then leave a few hours later. Christmas is always a busy time with lots of wrapping to do, friends to see and family to visit, so when Travelodge asked whether we’d like to stay at Travelodge Blackpool South Shore for a couple of nights, it seemed like the perfect way to guarantee a bit of quality time for the three of us before Christmas.
We turned up at dinner time on the Saturday and it was more than raining. There was a torrential downpour that just wouldn’t let up. For some reason, we decided to go for a wander in the rain (hello, wet dog smell on my coat) to get some food. Ebony managed to stay perfectly dry the whole time, I guess this is the benefit of being umbrella stick height. By the time we got to a cash machine, Laurie looked like he was dressed in head-to-toe lycra on account of being piss wet through. Me and Ebony decided to give up and we ran back to the hotel where we got into our pyjamas and watched Pinocchio. It wasn’t long before Laurie got back with some food for us all.
The next morning we got up early (well, Ebony did) and walked down the beach to the Sandcastle. For those who don’t know, the Sandcastle is an indoor water park. I went a couple of times in my youth but hadn’t been for years. Laurie had never been and I think we really went for him rather than for Ebony as she’s probably still a little young for a lot of the attractions. It isn’t cheap, at all, but we figured it was worth it since we were in Blackpool for two nights. We got there at 10am when it opened and for the first hour we were amongst the only people there. It got pretty busy after 11, but that first hour was blissfully calm. Ebony loved the wave machine and eventually braved the big water slides with me and Laurie in tow. After initially being too scared to try the slides, she then spent an hour or so dragging one of us back up the steps to take her down again.
After tiring herself out going up and down the slides, Ebony decided it was time for lunch. There was a Whetherspoons across the road and we decided to just pop in there for ease. Whetherspoons have got a few vegan options on the menu so it’s always an easy place to go for a quick refueling. Ebony nearly fell asleep in our booth because she was so exhausted from all the waterpark fun, but we eventually managed to convince her it was time to go.
I don’t think I’ve ever been to Blackpool in December before and I can confirm that it is pretty weird that time of year. Pretty much everything is closed and it feels a little like a ghost town. The normally heaving promenade was full of closed shutters apart from the odd arcade still open for business. We, of course, took Ebony to an arcade to teach her the joys of gambling, losing money and winning plastic crap you don’t want or need. Once it got dark, we made our way back to the hotel to watch a quick Christmas movie before bed.
Thank you to Travelodge Blackpool South Shore for the two night stay at the hotel, and for the vegan breakfast.
